Surgical knife



May 5, 1936.

J. J. OGDEN SURGICAL KNIFE ,Filed Jan. 17, 1934 I \Illllllllll Patented May 5, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFKIE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in knives which comprise a holder and interchangeable blades therefor, and particularly to such knives for surgical use and is a continuation in part and improvement on knives of this type as shown in my prior Patent #1914543 dated June 13, 1933. p In surgical operations it is of extreme importance that very sharp knives be used, that these knives should be shaped, so far as their cutting edges are concerned, for the particular operation for which they are to be used, and that they should be thoroughly sterilized before using.

These conditions are most effectively met by the use of individual blades in connection with the holder. Where such holder and blades are employed it is of extreme importance that the blades shall be rigidly held in the holder, that after use they should be readily removable, and that such removal should not only be accomplished with minimum danger to the operator charged with the duty of removing a blade often dangerously infected, but actually that the blade shall be fully ejected and discharged from the holder with-out being touched by human hand.

The objects of the present invention are:-

First, to make a holder and insertable blade therefor which are rigidly locked together by the insertion of the blade in the holder;

Second, to make a holder and blade therefor in which ejection of the blade is fully accomplished through the medium of the holder itself;

Third, to make a blade holder for accomplishing such purposes; and

Fourth, to make a blade for use with such a holder.

The means by which the foregoing and other objects are accomplished and the manner of their accomplishment will readily be understood from the following specification on reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:-

Fig. 1 is a side view of my improved holder with blade inserted therein;

Fig. 2 is an edge view of the same blade and holder;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view much enlarged showing the starting of the ejection operation of the holder on the blade;

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing a further stage and completion of the ejection of the blade;

Fig. 5 is a similarly enlarged, fragmentary sectional elevation taken substantially on the center line of the holder and blade;

Fig. 6 is a transverse section taken on the line VI-VI of Fig. 1; and

Figs. 7 and 8 similarly are transverse sections taken on the lines VII-VII and VIIIVIII respectively of Fig. 5.

Referring now to the drawing in which the various parts are indicated by numerals, I is a knife handle, I! a detachable blade and 12 an ejector pivotally secured to the handle as by a rivet E3. The blade or cutting portion is of any desired shape, and has an integral stepped shank Ml5, the wider portion l of the shank being relatively much shorter than the narrower portion 54 thereof, and stepping in abruptly to such narrower width.

Adjacent the outer end, a portion of the handle is channelled out to the width of the narrower portion M of the blade-shank leaving oppositely disposed positioning flanges l6, to hold the blade against lateral displacement. These flanges are undercut to form grooves ll adapted to receive and hold the wider portion l5 of the blade shank.

Adjacent the inner end of the flanges 16, a part [8 of the handle is cut away to receive the ejector l2 and allow the top of the outer part, or blade seat, l9 thereof, to lie flush with the bottom of the channelled portion of the handle. The opposite ends of the ejector are out along diagonal lines, and the ends of the cut-away portion of the handle, forming a seat for the ejector, are cut along complementary lines.

Preferably one side of the ejector has a flange 20 forming, when ejector is closed, a continuation of one of the flanges I6. The main portion of the ejector is thicker than the blade-seat portion l9 thereof, forming a shoulder 21, which engages the end of the blade shank to effect ejection. Preferably the portion of the bladeseat adjacent the shoulder 21 is thicker than at its outer edge thus effecting a slightly inclined blade seat. 22 is a locking lug integral with the ejector which lug is wedge shape both longitudinally, as shown in Fig. 5, and transversely, as shown in Fig. 6. The blade shank is provided with a complementary opening 23 adapted to receive the lug 22 and to interlock the blade shank and the ejector. The ejector also carries a lifting wedge 24 adjacent its outer end.

It will particularly be noted that the throw of the ejector shoulder is effective to slide the blade-shank I4 !5, longitudinally in the channel formed between the two flanges I6, and that such throw is at least equal to the length of the wider portion of the blade-shank l5, so that this wider portion of the shank is moved out of and disengaged from the grooves I! by such action, and the blade entirely disengaged from the holder by such longitudinal thrust. Preferably the grooves H are only of suificient length to house this wider portion of the shank, so that a maximum amount of channel is left to align the side edges of the blade shank portion l4. Also the depth of the grooves is such that these grooves engage the side edges of the shank portion Hi to further promote alignment and edgewise stability. It is found that the preferable throw is substantially equal to such narrower blade Width.

While the flanges 16 are preferably parallel it will be understood that they may diverge toward the end of the handle if it be so desired. In any case however, ejectment is made by moving the wider shank portion longitudinally out of the grooves and beyond the handle end.

Having described my invention, what I claim In a knife, a handle having spaced flanges extending inward from an end of said handle, and establishing a channel adapted to receive and position a complementary blade-shank, the proximate faces of less than half the length of said flanges adjacent the end of the handle being grooved; ejector means pivotally secured to said handle, said means having a blade-seat portion adjacent the inner end of and substantially flush with the bottom of said channel, a blade engaging lug projecting above said seat-portion, and blade-lug disengaging means adjacent said bladeseat end, said ejector being manually movable about said pivot, to advance said disengaging means laterally toward said channel line.

JOHN J. OGDEN. 

